At the 1st plenary session of the CCP’s 18th Central Committee, Xi Jinping was elected general secretary, marking the start of his tenure as China’s top party leader and the beginning of a sustained drive to concentrate authority around the party center.
On the same day he became general secretary, Xi was also chosen as chairman of the party’s Central Military Commission, placing the People’s Liberation Army under his top-level party command and strengthening his leverage over elite politics.
China’s National People’s Congress elected Xi Jinping state president, completing the formal transfer of top posts across party, state, and (soon after) state military structures.
The 3rd plenum of the 18th Central Committee (Nov. 9–12) adopted a major reform blueprint and decided to establish a central leading group to drive “comprehensively deepening reforms,” expanding party-centered coordination across policy domains.
Following the 3rd plenum decision, the party’s central reform leading group formally began operations with Xi as head, institutionalizing a mechanism for centralized, cross-system policy direction under top leadership.
The CCP created the Central National Security Commission, a party-level body intended to coordinate internal and external security. Its establishment strengthened centralized security governance under Xi’s chairmanship.
The 4th plenum of the 18th Central Committee adopted a decision on “comprehensively advancing rule of law,” while emphasizing the primacy of CCP leadership in the legal system—an important element of governance centralization.
State media introduced Xi as “commander-in-chief” tied to a new joint operations battle command center, signaling tighter personal command emphasis during ongoing PLA restructuring and reform.
At the 6th plenum of the 18th Central Committee (Oct. 24–27), official language called for unity around the party center with Xi as the “core,” a status associated with heightened authority within CCP elite politics.
After the 19th Party Congress (Oct. 18–24), the 1st plenum of the 19th Central Committee re-elected Xi as general secretary, extending his leadership into a second term while consolidating a top team aligned with him.
China’s legislature amended the state constitution to remove the two-term limit for the presidency, a landmark change that reduced succession constraints and enabled Xi to remain state president beyond the previous limit.
A new National Supervisory Commission—the highest state supervisory and anti-corruption authority—was formed, further centralizing investigatory and disciplinary power and reinforcing the party-state’s oversight architecture.
Beijing enacted the Hong Kong national security law through the NPC Standing Committee, reshaping Hong Kong’s governance and enforcement framework and expanding central authorities’ role in national security matters.
The CCP adopted a major “historical resolution” on the Party’s achievements and experience over the past century, explicitly emphasizing the need to uphold Xi’s core position and the centralized, unified leadership of the party center.
At the 1st plenum of the CCP’s 20th Central Committee, Xi was re-elected general secretary (and party CMC chair), formalizing a third term and reinforcing leadership continuity centered on him.
China’s National People’s Congress voted to give Xi a third five-year term as president, aligning the state presidency with his continued party leadership after the 2018 removal of term limits.
The CCP’s 20th Central Committee held its fourth plenary session (Oct. 20–23, 2025), with the agenda including study of proposals related to formulating the 15th Five-Year Plan, reflecting continued top-level party steering of state planning.
Xi Jinping's Administration and Centralization of Party Authority (2012–present)
